So Far Away
by xSeshatx
Summary: {Oneshot} It's finally Peter's sixteenth birthday, and Tony is determined to make it enjoyable, even if Aunt May isn't around to see it. (Part 3 of the Peter Parker: Future Hearts series)


The day crept up on him. It came around every year so, really, there was no reason for him to be surprised by it. On the same day every year, he became one year older. Out of all the inconsistencies in his life, this was one constant.

The earliest birthday memory he had clearly was when he turned seven years old. Aunt May and Uncle Ben had taken him to the park where he played with all the other kids for hours, and then they went out to eat and the staff sang him happy birthday. He got his first Lego set that day, starting a habit that would only increase. It also started the tradition that he'd get a new set of Legos on his birthday every year.

His worst birthday memory was his ninth birthday. He was haunted by that friend he had – Skip. Skip had happened only a few weeks before his birthday. It took a long time to get over it, and those few months while he worked through what happened were the worst. He couldn't remember much about what he did the day it happened; he couldn't remember much from that time.

His best birthday memory was the birthday he had before becoming Spider-Man, when he turned fourteen. Before Uncle Ben. At the time, it was just an ordinary birthday. He spent it with his top three favorite people: Ben, May, and Ned. They watched his favorite Star Wars movie again and ordered pizza. He got his first phone and even more Legos. It was a nice day. What made it the best was the fact that it was the last one before he lost Uncle Ben and was one of his last memories of him. He would hold it close to his heart for the rest of his life.

When he woke up on his sixteenth birthday, all he was thinking about was pancakes because he was starving. He was out on patrol late the night before. He had a curfew of three which was more than he even considered asking for. It was summer, Tony reasoned, and Peter wasn't gonna get out of the house any other time if it wasn't for patrol. He ended up waking up early at nine instead of his usual noon. He didn't want to get out of bed yet, but he was hungry. He heard himself groan as he rolled over in search for his phone (because what teenager doesn't grab their phone within seconds of waking up?) before he realized that his phone was buzzing endlessly. That probably woke him up in the first place. He didn't exactly have many friends, and the two he did have both knew better than the text him at nine in the morning, so his heart started pounding with anxiety.

He grabbed his phone and squinted at the high brightness to see what was causing the buzzing. He was getting nonstop facetime requests from Ned. No messages or voicemails, so Peter relaxed a little and accepted the next call that came in. As soon as they connected… "Happy sixteenth birthday, Peter!"

The noise made him flinch and he turned his volume down a few notches. "Dude, it's like, nine."

"Dude, it's like, your birthday."

"Friday, lights, please," he said, sitting up and pushing his hair out of his face. It was getting long again, and the curls were taking over, especially since he was all sweaty from the night before. Gross, he needed a shower. He saw himself from the facetime and cringed. He was shirtless with a few bruises still littering his torso, and his hair was definitely the bad type of greasy. He was still squinting at the phone like an idiot, too. "Is it now?"

"You'd think if there was anything out of the year you'd remember, it's your birthday. You're sixteen! You're finally sixteen, and you could get a license, and you are legal in most states not including ours, you can be tried as an adult probably…and dude, you look like you had a rough night. It's your sixteenth birthday, not your twenty-first."

Once his brain worked fast enough to understood what it was Ned said, Peter laughed a bit too hard and a bit too loud. "You can't be mean to me on my birthday."

"You didn't even know it was your birthday until I told you!"

"I'm gonna go shower and I'll call you back when I get out, okay? I'll talk to Mr. Stark about you coming over later."

"Dude, you've been living with him for, like, four months now. I'm sure you can call him 'Tony'."

"He's been telling me to call him Tony ever since I met him," Peter laughed. It was true, too, especially after Homecoming. It was almost a whole year since Homecoming, and it still felt so surreal. He still had occasional nightmares of falling from the airplane or having the building crash on top of him. He met the Avengers about eight or so months before, and they told him all the time to call them by their names at first. It didn't take long before Peter called them all by their name, but he still called Tony 'Mr. Stark' most of the time unless he was worked up. He may had been living with the man, but he still felt weird calling him Tony. He was scared to take that relationship a step further by referring to him as Tony indefinitely.

The shower didn't take long at all before he was out and getting changed. He called Ned back as soon as he was at least half dressed and talked to him as he dried his hair off. It felt nice to be clean of all the sweat he accidentally slept in. Whenever he was as sweaty as he was the night before, he normally took a shower before bed, but he had been too tired to care.

"I can't believe you forgot your birthday," Ned was complaining. Peter rolled his eyes, tossing his towel onto his bed and carrying the phone with him to his closet as he picked out a shirt to wear. "Like, it's your birthday. It's everybody's biggest day of the year, and you just forgot it."

"I have the unfortunate situation of having a birthday in the summer. I stop caring about what day it is the second school lets out." He settled on a Star Wars one, the one where it was the Star Wars font but said 'pew pew pew'. That one always made him happy inside. "Besides, what is there to do differently today than any other day? Face it, birthdays get boring once you get too old."

"You're never 'too old' to celebrate your birthday," Ned said. "Remember my sixteenth?"

"You are only, like, five months older than me, dude. Of course I remember your sixteenth." He laughed at the memory. "You had an ice cream cake and dropped it almost immediately so none of us had any cake. Your parents were so mad."

"Point is," Ned laughed, "that you could still have fun on your birthday."

Things took a depressing turn after that as Peter took his phone and laid back down in bed. "I know. It's just weird this year. I'd rather not think too much about it."

"You can't stop enjoying things just because…"

"I know. Next year will be better. This is…it's the first, you know?" Peter sighed, setting his phone down on the bed beside him and putting his pillow over his face. "I miss her."

"I know you do, but she wouldn't want you to be sad on your sixteenth birthday. She'd want you to go out and do all the normal things you would do. Get your license, waste money on snacks, have a movie marathon." He paused. "Besides, I'm sure Tony has an entire day planned just for you."

He tossed the pillow to the side. "We haven't even mentioned my birthday once."

"So? He'll do anything for you. You think he hasn't had your birthday planned since the day he signed those papers?"

Truth was, he probably already had. He didn't want to assume anything or even wish for it, but he was pretty sure Tony probably already had a car for him since it was his sixteenth. Probably had an entire day of events scheduled. Probably homecooked breakfast, unhealthy lunch, way-too-expensive dinner. Maybe a shopping spree because Tony wasn't great at gifts even though the car was _way_ more than enough. Getting his license was likely, too. Pepper would probably take him somewhere just the two of them because she was all about that one-on-one bonding time. He had to admit that he was, too. The rest of the Avengers would probably jump out of hiding and scream 'surprise' at him. Clint would no doubt try to shove cake in his face and then try to sneak him alcohol. Rhodey would be all god-father like, taking him aside to give him a very special and personalized gift while "uncle" Happy would definitely toss a plastic bag in his general direction with a muttered, 'here, kid' even though he obviously spent a lot of time considering what to get.

The Avengers spoiled him beyond anything he could have ever imagined, and he knew without a doubt that they liked going over the top. He expected his birthday to be no different.

"The sad thing is, you're probably right."

"Why is that sad? Shouldn't that be amazing?"

"No, it is, it's just they do so much for me already."

"You're his kid," Ned said, causing Peter to pick up his phone and look at him. "I don't know how many people have told you that, but you are. You are Tony's kid, and everybody who knows you and knows him knows that he loves you and you love him. This isn't 'Mr. Stark: The Mentor' anymore. You don't need to feel bad because he wants to do things for you." He sighed, rolling out of bed again and pacing the floor. "Go see Tony, Peter. Spend some time with him."

"I spend almost my entire day with him already," Peter said, but he didn't deny that seeing Tony would be nice. "I don't think he's awake." That was only partly true. He didn't know for certain if Tony was awake or not, but he knew that most of the time, Tony was awake when Peter was.

"Course he is. Happy birthday. Call me later, okay? See if I can stop by at some point."

"Alright, Ned. Thank you again."

"Later dude," Ned said, and then he hung up the call.

It took a few minutes for Peter to gather himself enough to leave his room. He kept staring at his phone wallpaper – It was May and Ben, both of them together. He missed them. It wasn't the first birthday that passed without Ben, but it was the first birthday that passed without May. Without one of them. He was glad he didn't realize how close it was to his birthday. If he had, he would have been moping all week. It may had been his birthday, but he didn't want to ruin it for the other Avengers if he spent the whole day crying in his room. He didn't want to ruin it for Tony. He really needed to start thinking about Tony as a parent. Because that's what he was.

He was only a little surprised when he walked into the kitchen and saw Tony. Tony's face lit up and he stood. "Happy birthday, Peter."

It took only a few seconds for Peter to make the decision, but when he did, he didn't hesitate. He walked forward and hugged Tony tight – the first hug out of nowhere he had given Tony. They hugged before, sure, but there was usually a dire reason. Anxiety attack, battle, tears. But a hug first-thing in the morning? Those usually didn't happen unless a nightmare was attached to it. "Thank you, Tony," he whispered, letting his head rest on Tony's chest and closing his eyes.

"No problem, kiddo," Tony said back equally as quiet. He hugged him back with one arm and put on hand on the back of Peter's head. "You okay for today?" Peter nodded. "You sure? It's okay if you're not."

"I am," Peter confirmed. But he didn't let go.

"Awe, look at the birthday boy," someone said from behind, making Peter turn his head and open his eyes to see who even though he recognized the voice to be Wanda. He let go of Tony and gave a head nod of acknowledgement just to be tackled in the hug of a lifetime by her. "Happy birthday! You're sixteen. They grow up so fast."

"I'm not that much younger than you," he tried to argue. He was only sixteen, but she was only in her early-twenties.

She pulled out of the hug and beamed down at him. "Yet I am an adult where as you are a child." After a moment of staring at Peter, her smiled turned sad and she pulled him into a gentler hug without saying anything.

Peter was right about the homemade breakfast. Courtesy of Steve, of course. After the birthday wishes, they all sat around eating. Everybody was much too lively for it being so early, but nobody seemed to mind too much. Sometimes, it still shocked him that he could feel so at home with the Avengers, but he tried not to think so hard about it then. If he thought too much on it then it might start to hurt, and he didn't want to hurt. He sat a little too close to Tony, though the man didn't seem to mind. Instead, he seemed to lean a little closer to Peter, as well.

When breakfast ended, Peter silently excused himself to go to the lab. He knew Tony would get the hint and meet him there, and soon enough, he appeared. "Hey, kiddo," he greeted softly. "Everything okay?"

"Can we go to the cemetery?" he asked, looking down at his hands instead of looking up at Tony. He could always go by himself, but preferred Tony to be with him. Emotional support and all that. He didn't think he could talk to Aunt May and Uncle Ben without Tony nearby. Besides, he never asked Tony to accompany him to the cemetery before. "I know it's a bit of a drive since it's all the way back in the city, but…"

"Sure, just say when." Tony looked mildly surprised by the request, but also relieved. He was probably expecting worse when Peter escaped from breakfast as quickly as he had. "Do you want to just lay low today? I could talk to the others about them taking it easy."

"No thanks, Mr. Stark. Tony," he hurriedly corrected. "You don't have to do that. I think I'll be okay today. I just want to…I just want to talk to them, you know? But I'm gonna be fine. Would it be okay if I invite Ned over sometime later? He kinda wants to come over."

"That's not a problem," he answered. He sat on one of the tables, facing where Peter was standing, still looking a little uncomfortable. "Is there anything you wouldn't be up for today? Because we have a few ideas, depending on what you want to do."

Like any other sixteen-year-old, of course there was something he had to do. He got his permit while May was still around, and he planned it to get his permit exactly six months before he turned sixteen to be able to get it on his sixteenth birthday. He wouldn't be a true sixteen-year-old without at least thinking about it. She took him driving only a few times before she passed, but Tony took him out more than a few times since summer started. "Can I try for my license, do you think, or should we have made an appointment?"

"Look who you're talking to, kid," Tony said, amusement on his face. "You want to take the test today? You got it. You better do good, though. I can do a lot of things, but I can't make them give you a license if you fail."

Peter laughed, finally easing up a little. "I wouldn't want a license if I didn't earn it. You don't mind if we do that today?"

"I was actually hoping you'd want to. I'd like to make fun of you when you fail."

"Hey! My driving isn't that bad."

"Maybe not _that _bad," Tony agreed. He didn't drop the smirk, though. "You could probably outdrive Pepper if it came down to it, but I can't say that's much of an achievement."

After a bit of discussion, they decided that Peter would try for his test first and then they would visit the cemetery. If he passed, he'd have something to talk about with his aunt and uncle. If he didn't, well, nothing really changed. He'd just find other things to talk about. So, Peter and Tony jumped in a car, with Peter driving, and they went to take the driving test.

"You nervous?" Tony asked as they walked from the car to the building.

"Not anymore," Peter admitted. "If I fail, I fail. I can always retake it."

"That's the spirit. Better get used to that idea now."

For all of Tony's teasing, he was very proud and not surprised when Peter passed his test. Peter asked the instructor to repeat himself probably three different times that he passed before Tony had to step in. "Congratulations, Mr. Parker," the instructor had said, giving them both instructions about where to go to get his license, and they went there right away. That was way less exciting than passing was, though, because it took too long. Thankfully, nobody approached either of them. Either Tony went under the radar of paparazzi or people were learning boundaries. Probably the former, in all honesty.

Despite just getting his license, Peter had Tony drive to the cemetery. It was easier to think about what he was going to say and mentally prep himself for the emotions when he wasn't the person behind the wheel. "You would have liked Uncle Ben," Peter was saying, keeping his eyes focused outside the window rather than looking over at Tony. "He wasn't genius-level smart or anything, but he always knew what he was talking about. He was far-less scary than Aunt May, too. If I had to compare him to anybody, he'd probably be more like Captain America than anyone. It was hard not to respect him."

"He raised a good kid," Tony said, and that got Peter to look over at him. "I would have liked to have met him, but I didn't need to for me to know that he was a good man. You turned out okay, I'd say."

It took a few minutes after Tony parked for Peter to finally open the door, but when he did, Tony followed as Peter led the way to the graves. "Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah, kid?" he asked. If Peter was calling him 'Mr. Stark' to his face with no corrections, the following conversation could not be easy.

"Does it make me a bad person for not thinking about my parents?" he asked, and when Tony didn't immediately answer due to shock at the question, he went on speaking. "I mean, I think of them sometimes, but, I don't know, I don't really remember them. I don't know what they looked like outside of some pictures Aunt May and Uncle Ben had. I don't know all that much about them. I don't even know their middle names. They're my parents, and I miss them, but I don't…I don't think about them that often. Does that make me a bad person?"

"I don't think anything could make you a bad person," Tony said, resting his hand on Peter's upper back as they walked. "It's hard to think about people you don't have much memory of, right? The important thing here is that you still love them. You could go your whole life never thinking about them, but as long as you still love them, there's no issue, I don't think."

"May and Ben raised me. As far as I'm concerned, they were my parents. I know my _real_ parents died when I was young, so them not being here isn't their fault, but I still can't picture them in my head as the two people I spent the first six or so years of my life with." They came to a stop in front of the four graves because May and Ben made sure to reserve the spots next to his parents. "Would you think it's weird if I talked to them like they were still here?"

"Of course not. Talk away."

Peter moved forward and kneeled in front of the middle between his dad and his uncle, which put him in the middle of all four. He took a breath to push away the nerves of doing something so intimate with Tony nearby. Really, though, it felt as if Tony belonged there. They were close enough by that point that talking to his dead relatives could have been as nonchalant as working together in the lab. "Hey, guys," he greeted softly, running his hand over the grass. "I'm sixteen today. Who would have thought, right? There were some moments where I didn't think I'd see my sixteenth, but here I am."

He adjusted his position so he was sitting on the ground. "A lot has changed since the last time I came around. It's been a while, I know. I got my license today, so there's that. I'm gonna start school again soon. I'm still Spider-Man." He paused, considering what else to say. "I guess nothing really changed, actually. Tony, do you want to say hi? Or is that, like, a weird question?"

Tony came forward to kneel next to where Peter was sitting. Wordlessly, Peter reached out to grab Tony's hand. Mostly for reassurance. Physical comfort. Tony squeezed his hand and didn't let go. "I haven't met most of you," he began, "but I've met Peter. With how well I know him, it feels like I know you all, too. You raised a great boy. I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Tony Stark, the man who adopted Peter. Honestly, he was my kid even before that. He wormed his way into the heart I forgot I have. He's a great kid."

There wasn't much else for Tony to say, or at least little else he felt comfortable saying, so Peter took back over. He talked for about ten more minutes, letting them know what life was like for him ever since moving in with Tony, and then it was time to go. He wiped his no longer dry eyes and leaned heavily into Tony as they got up and made their way to the car. "Thanks for coming with me," Peter said quietly. Instead of saying anything, he just squeezed his hand once more.

It was lunchtime by the time they finally made their way to the Tower. They had been staying at the Avengers Facility, but Tony decided that they could spend the rest of the day at the Tower so Ned would be able to come by at some point. On the way, they stopped to get some fast-food, which they ate during the drive. When they make it home, they ended up just sitting in the living room and watching some Lifetime movie because those were the best movies _ever_, though Tony pretended to give Peter a hard time about his movie choice. They got comfortable with Peter laying his head on Tony's lap while Tony raked one hand through his hair and answered emails with the other.

"You don't regret taking me in, do you?" Peter asked suddenly. So suddenly that Tony's hand stopped moving. Peter had been looking at the wall off to the side that said _Together, We Make A Family_. It was done by Pepper shortly after Peter started accepting May's death. He knew she was holding off on it so it wouldn't freak him out. Over the course of those months that he had been living with them, pictures slowly started to appear, most of which he hadn't even been aware of. There was a picture of him and Tony in the lab, him asleep on the couch with Pepper, and various pictures with other members of the Avengers. There was a smaller version of that at the Compound, but since Peter would be staying in the Tower mostly because of school, most of the pictures went up there.

"Of course not," he answered hesitantly. "Where's this coming from?"

"Nowhere," he said with a small shrug. "I just want to make sure. It was a long month with a lot of issues, and I would understand if it was too much."

"I'm not a man who does anything if I don't want to do it," Tony said, returning to running his fingers through his hair. "Work, for example. How often do you see me actually doing my job?"

"Whenever Pepper forces you to."

"Exactly!" Tony said, patting Peter's head dramatically. "It's hard to get me to do anything unless I want to do so. I could have easily just…" He made a vague tossing gesture with his hands. "I could have fed you to the wolves if that's what I wanted. I still could. You know why I haven't? Because I want you here. Have we settled this?"

"You're a good dad, Tony," Peter said, completely serious with no hint of a joke on his face. Tony stopped everything and looked down at him.

A soft smile graced his features. "Thanks, kid."

It was decided, a few hours later, that Ned would come over for cake and presents. As a surprise, MJ came with him, which was the first time the team met her. A couple members of the team had known Ned at that point, but he was still new to most of them. When the two of them appeared off the elevator with Steve in tow, Peter lazily stretched on the couch and got up to meet them. "Happy birthday, loser," MJ said. He saw Steve raise his eyebrow at the greeting, but Peter smiled.

"Came all the way out here just to insult me, then?" Peter asked. Behind his friends, Steve mouthed the words 'flirt harder' which caused him to turn red, so he elected to ignore his presence.

"No, I came all the way here just to give you this _and_ insult you," she said, handing over a nicely wrapped rectangle. "I am capable of multi-tasking, you know."

"Aww, you didn't have to get me, your incredible best friend, a gift for the day that I have aged one year older, and-"

"-and I'll be taking that back," MJ said, reaching for the gift she gave Peter, who quickly backtracked and held it behind him.

"No, no, I'm sorry," he said, laughing as he maneuvered away. "Man, why are you so _tall_? You have long arms. It isn't fair. C'mon, Ned, back me up."

"You're on your own for this."

"But it's my birthday!"

"Oh no, MJ, wait, be nice," Ned said in the most monotone, uninterested voice he could muster.

Ned gave him an etch-a-sketch phone case which, okay, was absolutely amazing. He had no idea they even made those, but he was sure going to put it to use. The way Ned explained his reasoning was that Peter was always fidgeting, and that was pretty accurate. "I told you!" he heard Tony yell from the other room, causing the three of them to burst out laughing. Or, at least, Peter and Ned burst out laughing. MJ just smirked which was pretty much the same thing in comparison.

MJ had gotten him a book because, "You're gonna regret not reading, and I think you'll really like this one." The book was Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. It was such an MJ book to suggest because of the strong female lead which, somehow, made him actually want to read it. He promised himself that he'd have it finished by the time school started in a week. If he had to bet, he'd put his money on the fact that MJ had long since read the book, which meant that they'd be able to talk about it together. If he could have more conversations with MJ, he'd definitely have to pick up some books.

He got gifts from all the Avengers. Clint got him an electric guitar T-shirt that was playable. Peter had no idea things like that existed, but apparently, Tony had shut down that idea because when Peter opened it, Tony threw his shoe at Clint yelling, "I told you not to!" while Clint dodged and just laughed. Rhodey surprised him with a camera because he had talked about being interested in photography. It was an action camera that was also waterproof. Steve got him a collection of Lego-styled notebooks which got a nice laugh out of him. Sam got him a 3D Printing Pen which was beyond cool, and everybody took a few minutes to try it out before continuing with the gift openings.

Bruce gave his gift after everybody calmed down with the pen, and he had gotten Peter a DVD collection of the Doctor Who series from the Ninth Doctor to where the series currently was. Natasha got him an iCade 8-Bitty, a wireless game controller that could be hooked up to cell phones. When he opened that, Ned almost demanded they take another break so they could look at that, but MJ slapped his arm and shut down that idea. Wanda was next with an LED light for his room that would project the night sky. He remembered a conversation he had with her about taking his mask off late at night while out as Spider-Man and just watching the stars. Vision's gift was a Stormtrooper hoodie that zipped up all the way to form a mask, and he immediately put that on for the rest of the opening of presents. Everybody got a laugh out of it, even Vision.

Happy's gift actually made him laugh a little because it happened exactly how he imagined. It was a gift inside a paper bag that he tossed at Peter, expecting him to catch it. Peter beamed anyways. It was a T-Shirt that said _More Snacks _using the Periodic Table. Pepper's gift was a bit more personalized. It was a necklace and keychain combo. The necklace was for her and the keychain was for him, and it read _DNA doesn't make your family, love does_. Naturally, he almost cried, but he held it together. Barely. He read what was on it and had to lower his head while he gathered his emotions. Before he had the chance to swallow it all down, she was standing in front of him and bending over to kiss his head. Bucky's gift actually did get his eyes to water even if he didn't let any tears fall. It shouldn't have been as emotional as it was seeing as how it was just Legos, but it was a birthday tradition he had with May and Ben. "I promise I'm not lame enough to cry over getting Legos," he said, forcing out a laugh. Bucky tried to apologize for the gift when Peter explained the meaning behind it, but he shut him down. "No, I…I'm really grateful for this, Bucky. Thank you."

Tony, as expected, gave him keys to a car that he would definitely see later that night as well as his other gift that he refused to even hint as to what it was. Tease.

They had a reservation to a very fancy restaurant, and MJ and Ned were invited. Tony had rented out the restaurant and made all the staff sign Nondisclosure Agreements ahead of time, this way nobody would let it leak that the Avengers were out on a birthday dinner with three teenagers. The birthday part was evident because there was a cake and the staff sang happy birthday to him. It embarrassed him but MJ full-on laughed about it, so it was all worth it. Ned was sharing in his embarrassment, though it was more second-hand if anything. The attention wasn't a problem for Ned, but seeing Peter react so dramatically by all-but hiding under the table was more on the embarrassing side.

It was a long day, and Peter was feeling the effects of it as they made it back to the Compound after dinner. Everybody else rode a helicopter over, but Peter and Tony decided they'd drive back. It was a way for them to spend more time together quietly, though quietly was the wrong word to use for that. It was more like they were quiet while the car ride was loud thanks to the music. Peter listened to more indie and soft rock music while Tony was stuck in the seventies rock era. Peter made sure that when his phone was hooked up to the Bluetooth he played a nice selection of music to satisfy them both. That being said, they both really appreciated each other's music style, so it was always played loud. Relatively loud, of course. Too loud and it would hurt his enhanced hearing.

Truthfully, Peter was ready for bed by the time they pulled into the Compound. He hadn't fallen asleep in the car ride, but that didn't mean he didn't come close. "Stay with me for about ten more minutes, kid, and then I'll leave you alone to sleep," Tony said as they got out of the car. He led him to the other side of the garage where there was one car singled out from the rest of them. "Don't think for a second that I'm letting you have the Audi." That got a laugh out of Peter because there was absolutely no way he'd even let himself drive the Audi. "I mean, you get an Audi, but not _that_ Audi."

"I get an Audi?!" Peter exclaimed, looking towards the car with wide eyes.

"It's a 2018 Audi A4."

"I think I'm gonna die."

"You'd really let me waste all that money on a car just for you to die on me, Parker?"

"I don't know how I'm supposed to respond to that knowing that this car costs more than I do."

Tony laughed, ruffling his hair as he walked forward to inspect the car. It was so expensive. Peter was scared to even look at too long in case is felt the intensity of his stare and shattered right before his eyes. "I, uh, got something else for you, Pete. Why don't you come inside with me and gawk at your car tomorrow?" All of a sudden, Tony sounded unsure and nervous which only made Peter unsure and nervous. He wordlessly followed Tony inside and to his private quarters, who also wasn't one for conversation at that moment. It seemed Tony was as bad as Peter was with the nervous rambling most of the time, so the uncomfortable silence had him on edge. They both sat down on the edge of the bed after Tony picked up a manila folder and handed it over.

It took a second to get the courage to, but Peter opened up the file in his hands slowly. He started reading the first page of it when it hit him what the words were saying. "Mr. Stark? Is this…?"

"I don't think Pepper and I are ever gonna have kids, Underoos. There's not really anybody else. There was this Harley kid I keep in somewhat contact with, but…but I don't think I'd want all of this to go to anybody else." Peter was too shocked to say anything to that, but Tony picked it up. "You're better than all of us, kid, you know that? You're going to outlive all of us and make the world a better place. You already do, and you're only sixteen. If you choose you want to continue with Spider-Man when you're older, you'll be at the front, saving the world with a team of superheroes behind you. You're the future of the Avengers. As for SI, well, Pepper and I can't run it forever. I know it's a lot of work, and you may not want the responsibility, which is why I'm giving you the option to say no. I won't even take it personally. But…but everything I have now? Everything I've created? I want you to carry that legacy. When I took you in, it wasn't just to give Spider-Man a home, you know. I took you in because of who you are, Pete. I wouldn't have done that if I wasn't sure about needing you in my life. You and I both know you were my kid long before I signed those papers, and this makes it more legit. Say no to the company? Fine. But I still want everything to go to you." Tony shrugged. "If Pepper and I end up having a kid, you and it will split it all fifty-fifty. But right now?" He trailed off, not really answering his own hypothetical question.

The silence between the two of them dragged on. Peter was absorbing this new information while Tony was regretting saying anything because he thought he just overstepped their relationship. He was ready to take it all back when he heard, "You really want all of this to go to me someday?"

"Of course. I can give you reasons why if you're interested. You're genius-level smart, you're kind, you're compassionate. You live up to your mistakes and want to make this world a better place. That's all I've ever wanted with my company, even when I was out selling weapons. I did that for our country. To make us safe. Now, though, we're keeping the world safe in other ways. My company – we're making progress on ending world hunger. We're supplying energy. We're building houses, hospitals, schools all over the world. We're making this world a better place. With someone like you on the forefront of that, there's no way we could lose."

There was no stopping the tears. He didn't even try to hide them. Tony was offering him a lot. As he skimmed through the rest of the papers, he was able to see different things such as Tony's Will naming Peter as the person who will receive everything aside from some donations that Tony already had set up. He saw the paperwork that listed Peter as the successor of Tony when he finally retired. There were papers with different ideas written out hastily such as a change of name from Stark Industries to Stark-Parker Industries. There were some of Peter's own ideas that he had thrown out at some point or another and the blueprints to make them a reality.

He looked up at Tony who was already looking at him. "Thank you, Tony," he said, reaching out to hug Tony. It was answer enough for Tony.

"I love you, kiddo," he said. When Peter said it back, he only squeezed him tighter.


End file.
